The ABCC* commenced proceedings in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia against the CFMEU and its official, Luke Collier, after Mr Collier allegedly directed work to stop at a $163 million Barangaroo project and refused to follow occupational health and safety procedures while on site.

In a statement of claim filed in the Federal Circuit Court, the ABCC alleges:

Mr Collier visited the Lend Lease Barangaroo Headland Park Project on 5 March 2014 and directed workers to stop work and attend a meeting to discuss alleged safety concerns. About 30 workers either stopped work or, confused, stood around waiting for instructions. Five of the site management team also had to stop work to deal with the interruption.

Mr Collier signed the sign-on book upon entry, acknowledging that he had read and would comply with safety requirements on site, including being accompanied at all times by a Lend Lease project representative who had completed a full site induction. Despite this, Mr Collier walked around site unaccompanied by a fully-inducted project representative, and continued to do so after a Lend Lease representative asked him to comply with site safety requirements.

The ABC Commissioner alleges that through the above actions, Mr Collier breached right of entry provisions under the Fair Work Act.

*This matter was originally filed by Fair Work Building and Construction (FWBC). On 2 December 2016, FWBC became the ABCC.